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If you're banking on a daily vitamin to make up for any deficiencies in your diet, you may be getting a whole lot more — or less — than you bargained for.

Of 21 brands of multivitamins on the market in the United States and Canada selected by ConsumerLab.com and tested by independent laboratories, just 10 met the stated claims on their labels or satisfied other quality standards.

Most worrisome, according to ConsumerLab.com president Dr. Tod Cooperman, is that one product, The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for Women, was contaminated with lead.

"I was definitely shocked by the amount of lead in [this] woman's product," he said. "We've never seen that much lead in a multivitamin before."

Other products contained more or less of a particular vitamin than listed on the label. And some did not dissolve in the correct amount of time, meaning they could potentially pass through the body without being fully absorbed.

"Half the products were fine, half were not," said Cooperman.

ConsumerLab.com is a Westchester, N.Y.-based company that independently evaluates hundreds of health and nutrition products and periodically publishes reviews. In the new report, released to MSNBC.com, the company purchased a selection of the popular multivitamins on the market as well as some smaller brands and sent them, without labels, to two independent laboratories to be tested.

On a positive note, several of the most popular multivitamins on the market did pass muster, said David Schardt, a senior nutritionist at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

These included Centrum Silver, Member's Mark Complete Multi (distributed by Sam's Club), One A Day Women's and Flintstones Complete.

"I think this confirms the advice often given: You're safer choosing a well-known brand sold by some company or store that you have confidence in," Schardt said. "There are no guarantees but that's your best bet."

— The Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially for women: Contaminated with lead— Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears: Had twice the labeled amount of vitamin A— Nature’s Plus Especially Yours for Women: Took twice as long as allowed to disintegrate— AARP Maturity Formula: Took nearly twice as long as allowed to disintegrate— Eniva VIBE: Had only 54 percent of claimed vitamin A— Pet-Tabs Complete Daily Vitamin-Mineral Supplement for Dogs: Contained lead

my doctor prescribes me the Centrum Silver. i'm a little young to be a senior but my doc says i need the extra benefits from taking a geriatric vitamin. anyways i guess it's good news the one provided by ADAP meets the standards.